I am going to stack a cake for my son's 2nd birthday next week (12, 9, 6, 2). I have a special recipe that the whole family loves but it results in a soft (not dense) cake. I am very concerned about the cake falling apart from the weight of the stacks.
I would like to know if dowels would work or if I should buy a "system" such as cake jacks. I've never stacked a cake before and I am very nervous.
I should mention that the party is not at our house so the cake will be transported.
TIA!!
Danielle
NO STRESS! It is only scary the first time. I probably go overboard, but I buy dowels from the hardware store and wash them. I pick a larger dowel about the diameter of my index finger for the center of the cake and then use about 4 or 5 smaller dowels around the center. It is not a problem to stack. My biggest problem is the centering. I've made a prototype of an invention to help me with that... but I've been so dang busy I haven't been able to try it out. 
Have you ever tried using just straws? Last week we transported a cake same size as yours but very heavy because it was covered in Choco-Pan. We just put the whole cake full assembled, decs and all on top of non skid mat and drove on the freeways and side streets for 45 minutes without it moving an inch. We did have it set on piece of plywood and then a large plastic Wilton plate.
Stacking is still scary for me, too 
. I wish I could afford the Stress-free system, but that is still beyond my budget. I use suggestions from Colette Peters's books. I use foamcore boards for each layer - I buy sheets and cut whatever size and shape I need. I like the Wilton plain hollow plastic dowels - they are strong, inexpensive and can be easily cut with household scissors - for each individual layer. I use sharpened wooden dowels that can be easily driven through the foamcore boards to stabilize each new tier to the tiers below. So, each tier gets the plastic ones to support the tier above it, and wooden dowels go through each additional tier all the way to the bottom board. I don't think you'l need - or have room for - plastic dowels under the 2" tier - maybe just one or two small woodeskewerls or plastic drinking straws to support it and another wooden dowel driven through all layers. Just be sure to off-set the wooden dowels that go through the layers in an organized pattern so that you don't hit any others. Maybe others with more experience have other suggetions.....
Ooooooops 
forgot to emphasize that I cut the plastic dowels even with the frosting rather than slightly below on soft cakes - that way, there is no pressure on the layer below - the weight of the tier on top is totally on the dowels. The wooden dowels through all tiers and the piped or fondant border serve to stabilize each tier in place.
I too have a problem centering my tiers. I read a great tip in another thread that said to cut a small hole (size of the dowel or just slightly smaller) in the center of each cake board. Then take your *bottom* layer and insert the dowel *from the bottom of the cake*. Then take the next layer and place it on top of the dowel and carefully push it down. This way you know your layers are centered. Works great!
I used this tip for my scarecrow cake last week. Wanted to not only make sure I got the head centered, but also that the whole cake wouldn't tip over since it was rather top heavy. So my husband drilled a hole in the cake board (3/4" plywood) where I wanted the body to go. We then pushed a sharpened dowel through the bottom of the board and gently put the shoulders down on the dowel. Then we pushed the head down on the dowel. Not only did we get the head centered the first time (thank goodness!) but since the dowel had to come up through a thick board, it was sure to go straight up through the cake and not lean (assuming, of course, my husband drilled the hole straight through the board - but he's REALLY good at that kind of thing!).
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